Shirley Hawkins
Mar 19 2009

Executive Director -Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women

 Los Angeles, CA -- Kellie Hawkins is one busy woman.

Hawkins, 30, is the executive director of the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women, a city organization that offers resources and shapes policy issues affecting women.

“We primarily focus on the economic empowerment of women,” said Hawkins. “My job is to increase the relevance of women’s issues and keep them at the forefront of pressing policy issues, such as workforce and career development, education, health, and personal and public safety.”

Mar 12 2009

Deputy City Attorney, City of Los Angeles

 Los Angeles, CA -- The Office of the City Attorney is a bustling place, but Capri Maddox feels right at home.

As a Deputy City Attorney and Neighborhood Prosecutor at the LAPD Wilshire Division for nearly five years, Maddox works tirelessly with community groups, local law enforcement, elected officials and other service providers to design effective crime prevention strategies. She aggressively prosecutes offenders and has successfully implemented creative sentencing to provide the maximum benefit to area residents.

Feb 28 2009

Two community activists combat grief and gun violence in South Los Angeles

Each year, gunfire claims the lives of hundreds of citizens in South Los Angeles–a pervasive fact that leaves scores of friends and family grieving and in pain. With nowhere to turn, many grapple with unresolved pain and anger that can affect them the rest of their lives.

Attempting to heal the wounds of those who have lost loved ones to gun violence has become an urgent mission for Bettye Sweet and Vicky Lindsey. Both mothers have lost family members to gun warfare.

Feb 26 2009

Suspect flees on foot

 Los Angeles, CA -- Passengers scrambled off the 40 line Monday night around 9 p.m. when a gunman pulled out a firearm and shot another passenger.

The shooting occurred as the bus came to a stop at Crenshaw Boulevard and West 60th Street in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles.

The victim was exiting the bus when he got into a dispute with the assailant. Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department Media Relations Section said that the two were apparently members of rival gangs.

Feb 26 2009

Eighty seniors evacuated

 Inglewood, CA -- Elderly residents at the Regency Towers senior citizen complex in Inglewood were evacuated Saturday when an apartment fire killed one resident and injured 17 others.

About 80 seniors, some in wheelchairs, were evacuated by firefighters from the senior 100-unit, seven story housing complex as a wall of thick smoke swirled through the complex. Eight residents were treated for injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to minor cuts and scratches.

Feb 26 2009

African American sperm donor said he was in love with Suleman

 Los Angeles, CA -- Denis Beaudoin, the man purported to be the sperm donor to Nadya Suleman, appeared on Good Morning America Monday morning and told interviewer Chris Cuomo that he donated his sperm three times to Suleman without asking questions because he was young and in love.

Beaudoin said he decided to come forward and talk to the media because he knew his name would eventually surface as the potential father. He said with all the publicity swirling around Suleman, he wanted to tell his story first.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.